Representatives from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ontario (IPC) will be at the Welland Site of the Niagara Health System (NHS) on Friday, Sept. 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., to meet with members of the public and hospital staff.
The IPC will host an educational outreach table in the main lobby at the Welland Site and at more than a dozen other hospitals across the province this week to recognize Right to Know Week 2011.
The emphasis of the outreach is to give out resources and answers to questions from hospital staff and the public on Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation. Beginning Jan. 1, 2012, hospitals will fall under Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) for the first time.
The introduction of FIPPA will not change the protection of Ontarians’ personal health information but will give the public a broader right to access records under a hospital’s custody or control, including those relating to administrative and operational functions, policy and financial considerations.
Learn more about Freedom of Information at the Niagara Health System
